Open floor support

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an open support for supporting the perforated floor of the grain-drying bin, the support having a base and a floor-receiving member substantially identical in outline, the base and floor-receiving member being horizontally disposed and vertically spaced, and a plurality of struts connecting the base to the floor-receiving member at the corners thereof.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Vincent B. Steffen New Hampton, Iowa [211 Appl. No. 786,154 [22] Filed Dec. 23, 1968 [45] Patented July 13, 1971 [54] OPEN FLOOR SUPPORT 3 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

[52] 0.8. CI 52/648, 52/263, 52/303 [51] Int. Cl E04h 7/34 [50] Field of Search 98/55; 52/192, 198,199,247, 249, 263, 265, 267, 383, 650, 648, 503,303. 615, 663, 684-686, 650, 741

[56] Reierences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,475,103 7/1949 Mannist 52/650 2,593,424 4/1952 Edgerly 52/303 X 2,743,487 5/1956 Kuhlman 52/480 X 2,818,009 12/1957 Steffen 52/303 X 2,901,960 9/1959 Barre et a1. 52/510X 3,094.745 6/1963 Stout 52/303 X 3,283,459 11/1966 Beranek et al 52/263 FOREIGN PATENTS 984,880 2/1951 France 52/615 1,216,471 11/1959 France 52/663 Primary Examiner-Alfred C. Perham Anomey1-lenderson & Strom ABSTRACT: This invention relates to an open support for supporting the perforated floor of the grain-drying bin, the support having a base and a floor-receiving member substantially identical in outline, the base and floor-receiving member being horizontally disposed and vertically spaced, and a plurality of struts connecting the base to the floor-receiving member at the corners thereof.

OPEN FLOOR SUPPORT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to supports and particularly to supports for supporting a perforated floor upon the base of a grain drying bin.

It is a common practice among modern farmers to dry freshly harvested grain either prior to storage to prevent spoilage or prior to selling to avoid dockage for excess moisture. One of the most popular ways of drying grain is employing a grain drying bin wherein the grain is piled on a perforated floor within the confines of the bin and heated, dry air is forced into the bin under the perforated floor and dispersed upwardly through the floor and grain, absorbing the moisture, and escaping to the atmosphere through an aperture provided in the roof of the bin.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to support the perforated floor by means ofa plurality of cement blocks or a plurality of rods fastened together to form a mesh-type upright. Traversing these vertical supports has been a wooden plank or mesh-type sill upon which rest the perforated floor panels.

Problems encountered with the hereinbefore described structures are that each involve two steps to arrange; i.e., placement of the vertical supports, i.e. the cement blocks, and placement of the horizontal supports, i.e. the planks or sills. Also, the horizontal members extend from one vertical support to another across the bin, thereby requiring sizing and cutting of the horizontal supports to fit between the walls of the bin in addition to restricting the movement of the workers constructing and placing the supports.

Further, the wooden horizontal plank supports not only create a fire hazard but cover the perforations in the floor and drastically reduce the efficiency of the blower and drying bin. The horizontal supports also collect fines which further plug the perforations and form a nesting area for small insects which may contaminate the stored grain. Another problem encountered with the prior art structures is that when installed in the usual circular bins, numerous areas of the erforated floor are not properly supported, particularly those sections ad jacent the inner periphery of the bin.

Perhaps the most important problem encountered with structures supporting a perforated floor ofa grain-drying bin is that in order to support the tremendous weight of the grain piled on the floor, the supports must inherently include so .much solid structure that complete displacement of the forced air beneath and through the perforated floor is practically impossible. The device of this invention will resolve these problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an open structure for supporting the perforated floor of a grain-drying bin above the slab foundation of the bin, the support structure having a flat base engaging the slab of the bin, a flat truss member supporting the perforated floor, and a plurality of substantially vertically inclined struts interconnecting the base and truss member such that the respective planes of the base and truss member are parallel to each other.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved device for supporting the perforated floor of a grain-drying bin.

It is another object of this invention to provide a unitary support for supporting a perforated floor incorporating horizontal support together with vertical support.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a support which is designed to distribute the supported weight about the whole support.

It is another object of this invention to provide a support capable of supporting the weight of a full bin of grain, yet one providing maximum openness between the perforated floor and bin base to permit the least interference with the heated, dry air forced into the bin therebetween. and further wherein the relationship between the location of the air inlet and the direction of flooring isunimportant.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a support for a perforated floor ofa grain bin which will obviate the collection of fines which normally occurs between the usual sill and the perforated floor.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method of distributing a plurality of uniform supports about the base of the bin to provide maximum distribution and spacing thereof and which method provides for maximum floor support and utilization of material.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a uniform support which is capable of being self-supporting, yet is not bulky and may be easily stacked and nested for storage and shipping purposes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a support for a perforated floor of a grain-drying bin which is simple, economical, and rugged in construction.

These objects, and other features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent upon reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the grain-drying bin with a portion'cut away and showing the device of this invention supporting a perforated floor;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the device of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a furtherenlarged horizontal sectional view as taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view as taken along the line 4-4'0f FIG. 1 and showing a portion of the perforated floor in plan view, and showing further one manner of arranging the devices of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view substantially identical to that illustrated in FIG. 4 and showing further another manner of arranging the devices of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a modification of the device of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the modification;

FIG. 8 is a foreshortened sectional view as taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view as taken along the line 9-9 in FIG. 6 showing a flanged perforated floor engaging the modified support;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary schematic plan view showing the preferred arrangement of the modified supports relative to the floor panels and the bin wall; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view as taken along the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, the support device of this invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and is shown in assembled relation with a conventional grain-drying bin 11.

The grain bin 11 includes a slab or base 12 securing a circular, upstanding, corrugated wall 13 supporting a roof 14 enclosing the bin 11. The roof 14 is provided with an aperture (not shown) for admitting the grain (not shown) to the bin 11 and exiting of moist air as hereinafter described. A cap 16 is shown for selectively sealing the interior ofthe bin 11 from the atmosphere.

Supported above the slab 12 (FIG. 1) of the bin 11 is a series of perforated panels 17 of conventional construction, described more in detail hereinafter, placed contiguous to one another to form'a floor 18 upon which grain to be dried is piled. Positioned adjacent the bin 11 and exterior thereto is a fan 19 and heater 21 for forcing heated, dry air into the bin 11 through a vent 22 fluidly connecting the fan 19 and a cavity or chamber 23 defined by the slab 12, perforated floor 18 and cavity 23 and flows upwardly through the perforations 24 of the floor 18 to contact the grain for absorbing moisture therefrom and is finally exited through the aperture (not shown) provided in the roof 14 of the bin 11.

The open support 10 (FIG. 2) of the invention comprises generally a right angular base member 26, a right angular truss member 27, having a slightly larger size than the base member 26, and a quartet of strut members 28 connected to and extended between common corners of the base member 26 and the truss member 27.

Specifically, the base member 26 is formed by a pair of parallel bars or rods 29, 29' of identical length, and a second pair of parallel bars or rods 31, 31' ofa length shorter than the rods 29, 29 connected to and extended between common ends of the rods 29, 29'. All four rods lie in the same plane such that the base member 26 may lie flat against the base 12 of the bin 11.

The truss member 27 extends in a plane parallel to the plane of the base member 26 and is formed by a pair of parallel bars or rods 32, 32' of identical length, and a second pair of parallel bars or rods 33, 33 of a length shorter than the rods 32, 32, connected to and extended between common ends of the rods 32, 32. All four rods lie in the same plane such that the truss member 27 is flat and frictionally supports the underside 34 (FIG. 1) ofthe perforated floor 18.

The strut members 28 (FIG. 2), hereinafter called struts, are a plurality of vertically inclined angle irons extending from the corners of the base member 26 to the corners of the truss member 27. The lower end 36 of the inclined struts 28 connect to the outer periphery of the base member 26 and the upper end 37 of the struts 28 connect to the inner periphery of the truss member 27 such that the force acting upon each strut 28 is directed toward the connection rather than away therefrom, thereby relieving the stress on the connection and distributing the force to the whole support 10.

For example, a downward vertical force upon the inclined strut 28 (FIG. 2) would tend to force the upper end 37 of the strut 28 downwardly and outwardly and simultaneously force the lower end 36 of the strut 28 downwardly and inwardly. The outward force upon the upper end 37 is distributed to the 1 adjacent rods 32, 33 of the truss member 27 and the downward force extends the axis of the strut 28 where it is distributed to the slab 12 (FIG. 1) by the lower end 36 (FIG. 2) thereof, while the inward force acting upon the lower end 36 is distributed to the adjacent rods 29, 31 ofthe base member 26.

To increase the strength of the struts 28, the sides 38, 39 of each strut are formed with corrugations running longitudinally thereof (FIG. 3). The modified strut 28' adds strength to the support 10 without the addition of bulk to interfere with the distribution of air within the cavity 23 (FIG. I).

The supports 10 can be arranged about the slab 12 (FIGS. 4 and of the bin 11 in a manner to provide maximum floor 18 support with the least number of supports 10. In a small bin lll (FIG. 4), the supports are placed on the slab 12 in contiguous parallel rows 41, 42, 43. The supports 10 are aligned in an end 33 to end 33' relationship and spaced approximately one support length apart. Each support 10 is contiguous with another support in the same row, but is staggered relative to an adjacent support 10 in an adjacent row such that one-half of one side 32 of the support 10 is contiguous to one-half of one side 32' of the adjacent support. The perforated floor panels 17 are placed on top of the supports 10in a side-by-side relationship with the longitudinal axis of the panels 17 traversing the axis of rows 4143. In this manner, each length of panel 17, defined by the width of the support 10, is supported by at least one support side 32 or 32 and one end 33 or 33.

In a larger bin 11 (FIG. 5) the supports 10 are arranged in contiguous parallel rows 464l9. The supports 10 are aligned in an end 33 to end 33' relationship and spaced approximately one support width, rather than length, apart. The supports 10 making up the rows 46, 48 are staggered relative to the supports 10 making up the rows 47, 49, such that only approximately one-fourth of support side 32 is continuous with onefourth of the side 32 of the adjacent support 10. The perforated floor panels 17 are placed on top of the supports 10 in a side-by-side relationship with the longitudinal axis of the panels 17 extending parallel to the axis of the rows 46-49. Arrangement of the supports 10 and floor panels 17 in the latter manner facilitates each length of panel 17, defined by the width of the supports 10, to be supported by two sides 32, 32' and ends 33, 33 of the supports 10 immediately adjacent the panels 17.

Referring to FIGS. 6 through 11, a modified support 10' is illustrated to aid in aligning the ribs 52 under the corners of the support 10. The ribs 52 are formed by interlocking, downwardly extending, flanged sides 53, 54, of the floor panels 56 and bear the weight supported on each panel 56.

The modified support 10, of either a square or a rectangular design, includes at least two identical struts 57, 58 (FIGS. 69) each having an upper end 61 extending above the upper surface 62 of the truss member 27. A notch 63 (FIG. 9) is formed in each end 61 to receive the interlocked sides 53 and 54. The construction of the support 10' is such that when the notched struts 57, 58 are aligned to receive the floor ribs 52, all corners of the support 10' are aligned with a weight bearing rib 52.

In a grain-drying bin 11 (FIG. 10 and Ill) having a perforated floor 51 of ribbed construction, the supports 10 are arranged such that the interlocked floor ribs 52 rest upon all the corners of the support 10'. The rectangular supports 10' are placed on top of the slab 12 of the bin 11 and aligned in parallel rows 66, 67 with each support 10 being positioned diagonally of the longitudinal axis of the row 66 or 67. In positioning the rectangular supports 10', the corners connecting the notched struts 57, 58 are positioned laterally intermediate the corners connecting the shorter struts 28 (See FIG. 10). The supports 10' are arranged as illustrated so there is a corner approximately every 24 inches on each rib 52.

In order to maintain the appropriate corner spacing, it may be necessary to use a square support 10 about the periphery of the bin 11, where the area is not sufficiently large to receive a rectangular support 10'.

The ribbed floor panels 56 are then placed on top of the supports 10, with the panels 56 extending parallel to the longitudinal axes of the rows 66, 67. The floor panels 56 are successively placed on the supports 10' in a side-by-side, interlocking relationship, with a ribbed portion of each panel 56 engaging a different corner of the rectangular support 10' and engaging two common corners of the rectangular supports 10 in the rows 66 or 67. The notched struts 57, 58 of the square supports 10', however, engage the same floor rib 52 as hereinbefore described. The notched struts 57,58 of the support 10 straddle the supported rib 52 and maintain all the corners of the support 10' in'proper alignment relative to the floor ribs 52 It will be noted that each row of floor supports 10' supports three sections or panels 56, and that two rows of supports 10 support seven sections or panels 56. Also of interest, the iongitudinal extent of the floor panels 56 runs at a 45 angle to the discharge auger (not shown) beneath the flooring.

In summation, a support 10 for use in a grain-drying bin 11 has been hereinbefore disclosed which is strong, self-supporting, open, and of unitary construction. These features provide a durable floor support, a faster installation of the bin floor l8,

a greater efficiency in the drying process, and enables the supdescribed together with several methods of arranging the floor supports within a grain drying bin, it is to be remembered that other modifications and arrangements can be made thereto without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

lclaim: 1. A floor support for a grain-drying bin having a slab and a perforated floor, comprising:

base means of rectangular configuration for engaging the perforated floor, said base means disposed in a single plane and being formed from rods defining the periphery of said base means; truss means of rectangular configuration for engaging the perforated floor, said truss means disposed in a single plane and being formed from rods defining the periphery of said base means; and a plurality of struts interconnecting said base means and said truss means such that the respective planes of said base means and said truss means are parallel to each other; said struts being connected to and extending between common corners of said base means and said truss means, said struts being elongated, substantially straight members, each strut having one end connected to the inner periphery of said truss means and the other end of said strut connected to the outer periphery of said base means.

2. A floor support as defined in claim 1 wherein each member includes longitudinally extended corrugations formed therein.

3. A floor support as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of said struts extend upwardly and beyond said truss means, each of said upward extensions having a notch formed therein for receiving a portion of the floor. 

2. A floor support as defined in claim 1 wherein each member includes longitudinally extended corrugations formed therein.
 3. A floor support as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of said struts extend upwardly and beyond said truss means, each of said upward extensions having a notch formed therein for receiving a portion of the floor. 